Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon said Bangladesh will take steps to establish a postgraduate university modelled on those in developed countries. He made the announcement on Saturday at the closing ceremony of a two-day vice-chancellors’ dialogue at BRAC CDM in Savar, organised under the University Grants Commission’s Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation project.

The minister said Bangladesh has established many public and private universities but has not yet created a postgraduate university, unlike neighbouring countries and others that conduct world-class research. He said the prime minister had expressed interest in such an institution and that the government would support new universities built to international standards. He also said the education budget has reached 2 percent of GDP, with plans to raise it to 3 percent next year and gradually to 5 percent.

Milon urged universities to update curricula for labour-market needs and said the UGC was instructed to identify private universities failing to provide quality education. UGC Chairman Prof Mamun Ahmed said a draft five-year strategy for higher education had been prepared and would be finalised after stakeholder consultation. He also announced an initiative for mandatory internships, including financial support for students.